


Shifting

by afteriwake



Series: Simple As It Should Be [16]
Category: CSI: NY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 12:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She could tell that tonight, things were going to change...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shifting

She had the feeling that tonight things between them were going to change again. They'd gone to see a movie at one of the theaters near her apartment, deciding to walk there and walk back. It had been a good night, but she'd felt something shifting for about a few weeks now. It was getting harder for her, at least, to end the evenings that she spent with him. She didn't want him to leave.

And tonight, she knew it was going to be just as hard as it had been the last time.

Then it hit, a sudden rainstorm. It had been grey and overcast all day, but as darkness fell no one had expected rain. But here it was, rain pouring down on anyone unlucky to be outside. They were about three blocks from her apartment and without a word to each other they both started to run.

Even at a quick pace, though, by the time they got to the steps and made it to door to her building they were both soaked. They paused for a moment outside the door to catch their breath.

"And this is why I hate rain," Flack said, gesturing to his sodden clothes.

Lindsay laughed. "I've always kind of liked the rain."

"Must be a Midwestern thing."

"I think it's just a thing with me, maybe. Everyone else I knew hated it." She reached into her pants and fished out her keys. There was one for the main door and one for her apartment, and she was always getting them confused. She tried to use the wrong one and was about to put the other one in when Flack put his hand on hers. She turned to look up at him as they both dropped their hand from the lock. "What is it?"

He looked at her for a minute. "You're one of those people who look good after getting stuck in the rain, you know that?"

Lindsay tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. "You don't look that bad yourself, you know." She started to do the same on the other side but Flack's hand was there first, doing it for her. She leaned her cheek into the palm of his hand slightly, enjoying the bit of warmth on her cold face. She shut her eyes and wasn't surprised to feel his lips on hers a minute later.

Yeah, it was going to be a _lot_ harder to send him away tonight, she thought to herself. He pulled her closer with his other arm and suddenly she realized she didn't _want_ him to go home tonight. She wanted him to stay. She pulled back a bit. "I think maybe we should go inside," she said, catching her breath a little as she said it.

"That might not be a bad idea." He lowered the hand that was touching her face but kept his arm around her as he watched her put the right key in the lock. When the lock clicked, he regretfully let her go and they went inside her building to the stairs.

She walked up two stairs ahead of him all the way up to her apartment in silence. This was unusual; even if things hadn't been great, they'd talk all the way up until one of them had to go. She made it up to her door first, unlocking it easily since she'd been fingering the correct key the entire way up. She held the door open for him and then closed it behind him.

"I didn't realize how cold it was out there till I got in here," he said, trying to spark some sort of conversation.

"You realize I'm not letting you leave till you've warmed up, right?" she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't exactly have something to change into here, Lindsay, and we aren't into the same fashions."

"I was thinking something...else."

He stepped back towards her. "Like what?" he asked quietly.

"Like you not leaving tonight," she said. She swallowed slightly. "I...I want you to stay over tonight, Don. If you want to."

He didn't say anything, but he closed the gap between them for the most part. She looked up at him, seeing the look in his eyes. He didn't need to say anything: she knew he wanted to stay. But he opened his mouth anyway, saying simply, "I want to."

He leaned down to kiss her again and she really didn't care that they were both wet and cold and dripping on her floor. All she cared about was that he was going to stay, that they were on the same page about this. She felt his hands on her waist and then she thought about something, one of the few logical things to penetrate the moment.

She pulled back and looked at him. "I...uh...Don, I just..."

He grinned at her. "Yeah?"

"I don't know about you, but right now, I'm freezing."

"Probably the clothes." He looked around. "You don't have a dryer in here by any chance?"

"No, I have to take everything to the Laundromat."

He reached down and took her hand. "Where's your bathroom? We can just hang everything up on the shower rod."

She blushed slightly. "First door on the left."

He pulled her gently towards the bathroom, wondering if she was going to actually go through with what he was pretty sure they both wanted to happen tonight. He wanted it tonight. If she didn't, though, he'd respect that. "If you want, I can go in first and just wrap a towel around myself or something."

She reached in and flipped on the light. He stepped in, glanced over at her and saw a slightly speculative look on her face. "It's okay." She stepped in after him and closed the door behind her. Then she stepped up to him and leaned up to kiss him softly. After a minute, her hands were the ones moving.

He hadn't even thought about the scar until then. No one had really seen it, save for the doctors and nurses, his physical therapist and a few people who'd run into him at the showers. That last group of people had given the ugly mark a quick look and then turned away. He didn't want her to turn away, but before he could pull away she had lifted his shirt up out of his pants and her fingers skirted the bottom of the scar.

He sucked in a breath and she paused, pulling away. "I'm sorry." She looked away. "Maybe this isn't a good idea after all..."

He put his finger under her chin, lifted her face up to look at him. He didn't know how to phrase what was running through his mind at first, but it came to him. "A lot of people...the scar...they aren't comfortable seeing it. I just...not that many people have _seen_ it."

She nodded. "Do you think it'll scare me off? Make me think differently of you?" she asked quietly.

"I don't think so."

"Then let me see it." She looked straight at him, and he nodded slowly. With slightly trembling hands, she began unbuttoning his shirt, starting from the top. She'd never seen much of his bare skin before because he was always dressed. When she got to the last button, she let the shirt open up. She looked at the ugly red line that ran across his waist, just taking it in. "I know I've asked about what happened, but..."

"Seeing the aftermath is different, right?"

She reached out and touched the skin above the left side of the scar and brushed her finger downwards, causing Flack to take another sharp intake of breath. She ran her fingers lightly underneath it, sometimes letting them dip towards the top of his pants. The pressure was light, and he found himself mesmerized by her simple actions. "A little. But it doesn't make me think differently of you."

He leaned in towards her, trapping her hands between them for a moment as he went in to kiss her again. She pulled her hands free and moved them to his shoulders to push the shirt off of him at the same time as he went to pull her shirt up over her head. They pulled apart long enough to finish the tasks and when he pulled her close again, bare flesh against bare flesh, he realized for the first time how much she really meant to him.

She was beginning to mean everything to him.


End file.
